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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · mate · net · vault · kick · capital

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. vault — a safe
  8. net — for catching
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. kick — in football
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mate — to breed
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. capital — money
  15. net — after costs
  16. capital — a city
  17. net — in sport
  18. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com